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DP World has expanded its ambitions in Bangladesh’s port sector, seeking to operate Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) alongside its long-standing interest in the New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT), according to government officials and industry sources.
The UAE-based global port operator submitted the proposal last month during a meeting of the Bangladesh-UAE Public Private Partnership Platform in Dubai.
Bangladesh is opening-up its ports and logistics sector to foreign operators and investors, with several international terminal operators already entering the market. DP World has expressed interest for years – in 2019, it proposed investing $1bn in the country’s ports and logistics infrastructure.
However, NCT, Chittagong Port’s largest container terminal, has long been at the centre of political and labour opposition over plans to hand operations to a foreign operator. Port workers and political activists have protested against the proposal over the past two years.
Industry sources said DP World wants to secure long-term leases for both NCT and CCT, which are side by side in Chittagong Port.
The operator is also understood to be interested in investing in an inland container depot in Gazipur and the planned Bay Container Terminal in Chittagong, as well as digitising Chittagong Port operations.
Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), confirmed DP World had submitted a proposal covering CCT operations, adding: “We have received proposals on CCT from other global operators as well. But we are yet to take a decision.”
Md Zakaria, newly appointed secretary at the Ministry of Shipping, said the proposal remained under discussion, with the Public-Private Partnership Office examining the matter.
Bangladesh has increasingly attracted foreign port investors and operators in recent years amid the government push to modernise maritime infrastructure and improve supply chain efficiency.
Saudi Arabia-based Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) has been operating the Patenga Container Terminal (PCT) since June 2024. Meanwhile, the government is progressing plans for the Bay Container Terminal project in partnership with PSA Singapore, DP World and Chittagong Port Authority.
Construction is also under way on the $2bn Matarbari deepsea port project, financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Two Japanese companies are building the facility, which authorities hope will establish Bangladesh as a regional container hub and reduce dependence on small feeder vessels for cargo transhipment.
Elsewhere, APM Terminals, part of AP Moller-Maersk, has been awarded the contract to build and operate the Laldia Container Terminal in Chittagong.
Inland logistics investment is also increasing. Medlog Bangladesh Private, part of Switzerland-based MSC Group, began operations at Dhaka’s Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (PICT) in January.
Meanwhile, exporters have welcomed the prospect of another global operator taking on terminal operations in Chittagong. Abul Kalam Azad, a Dhaka-based exporter, said appointing DP World to operate the CCT could improve efficiency.
“We hope to receive better services if the DP World is awarded the task,” he added.
DP World was approached for comment, but had not responded before publication.
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